A guest on the BBC's Fake or Fortune was left speechless after discovering that a painting he bought for a fraction of its worth is actually a long-lost work by renowned New Zealand artist Frances Hodgkins, valued at around £50,000.
Robjn Cantus, who lives near Cambridge, purchased more than 30 paintings during a 'trolley dash' at an auction house in 2020. He paid £35 for a lot containing two works attributed to Vera Cunningham, but only wanted one of them. The other, a 'by-product' painting, was stored away and forgotten.
On the episode aired Monday (August 4), art historian Mary Kisler, a Hodgkins expert from New Zealand, examined the piece. She identified it as likely being 'October Landscape', a Hodgkins work that had been missing. 'When you lay those works side-by-side, you can see absolutely that Robjn's work fits among them,' Kisler said. Host Fiona Bruce described it as 'the find of a lifetime'.
Speaking to Metro, Cantus admitted he initially thought the painting might be 'the work of a schoolchild'. He insisted the artwork is not for sale, stating: 'To have it authenticated after trying for all those years is worth more than the value.'
